Altough I'm german I rarely check out german TV shows. The last one was Deutschland 83 and that was like two years ago. Germany just hasn't figured TV out yet but that's another discussion.
When I heard Netflix was producing a german show I just had to check it out because Netflix has a great track record so far and Germany does have talent infront and behind the camera. But overall I think this show just fell flat. Good, but nothing great.
Fantastic visuals that are shot very beatifull, the actors IMO are mostly great and the music/score can be beautiful but often gets obnoxious. But unfortunetly there are too many characters that are hard to keep track off which distracts from the story.
The story is already confusing enough even without trying to keep up with the many characters over different decades and it heavily sets up future seasons without answering a lot of questions about this one and just left me unsatisfied at the end.
Still worth watching tough IMO and very bingeable similarly to Stranger Things.
But if you do watch it then choose the subbed version. I checked out the dub really quick and it sounded horrible. And also don't browse your phone as you might do on other shows. You're going to miss so much important shit.
EDIT after Season 2:
I'm not actually sure what just happened and what I think about it. But the one thing I'm sure of is that the casting in this show is absolutely phenomenal. The actors look so much like their younger counterparts that I'm not fully convinced they aren't actually related.
Plus the cinematography is still fantastic and the music monatages are really beautiful (and they got rid of those obnoxious sound effects).
And altough the story is still very confusing I found it more easier to follow and more engaging than Season 1 because I now know all the charcters and their background. And it seems that the writers had this all planned out and aren't just making shit up as they go.
Changed my rating from 8 to 9.
EDIT after my first rewatch just before S3 is released.
Changing my rating again. This time to a 10. After S1 I thought it was good but confusing show (8), after S2 I thought it was great and really well thought out one (9). Now after rewatching both seasons for the first time I think the show is fucking masterpiece. (10). Once you can watch it without being confused and actually knowing what is happening your just in awe throughout all of it.
If they stick the landing with season 3 it could be up there with the best ever.
EDIT after Season 3
Masterpiece. Simple as that.
Writing. Directing. Cinematography. Casting. Acting. Soundtrack. Everything is perfect.
I'm going to miss the beautiful music montages at the end.
Not quite the "feminist Western" which Netflix seemed to promote it as, but that's fine because it didn't need to be. Godless is a lush and rich Western miniseries which somehow feels fresh while still embodying many tropes of the genre. We have a tired sheriff with an overeager deputy, a band of outlaws seeking revenge and a mysterious stranger on the run. All this happens in and around a town populated almost entirely by (badass) women.
It's to the shows credit that it makes each of these clichés feel unique and interesting. The sheriff is losing his eyesight and is regarded as a coward by the women he's charged with protecting, while simultaneously struggling with feelings of resentment to his own little daughter. The evil outlaw (played superbly by Jeff Daniels) is actually a man capable of incredible compassion and acts of love alongside his brutality. And Whitey, the overeager deputy, turns out to be one of the most enjoyable and unpredictable characters in the whole thing.
But it's the girls of La Belle who do manage to steal a good portion of the show. Maggie is tough as nails and doesn't back down an inch when confronted with male posturing, as well as being engaged in a very natural relationship with Callie. Meanwhile, Alice lives her life exactly on her own terms as she raises her son along with her (awesome) Native American mother-in-law.
Godless is not an action-fest, although when things go down it's extremely satisfying. This is more of a measured story which lets things breathe. The cinematography is absolutely glorious and my jaw dropped at the staging of several scenes. I found it to the show's benefit that we spent so much time just taking things in as my attachment to the characters grew more and more. To give a specific example there's an episode in which a lot of time is spent with horses, and while it doesn't further the plot significantly, it pays off down the line and only allowed me to enjoy the experience all the more.
The cast are uniformly excellent, and it's easy to forget that three of the main characters are Brits. The writing is also of a high quality, and while this is not in the same league as the poetry and magnificence of Deadwood, it's very much going for a different vibe and doing its own thing. This feels more like an epic Western whereas the HBO show had a tighter focus on the comings and goings of the town it was set in.
That's not to say the show is perfect. I'm definitely not the first to notice, but there are a number of plot threads which are introduced but go absolutely nowhere. We meet characters like John Doe who have a mystery set up and then no more is given to us. We don't really get any huge revelations into Bill's past with his wife or situation, and what the Indian and his dog were all about. The (fantastic) German character Martha is only introduced at the very end. And we don't even get a proper explanation as to why Roy betrayed Frank in the first place. It definitely feels to me like there is plenty of room for a continuation, but this appears to be a one-off.
But I absolutely loved Godless. It manages to be incredibly satisfying despite its flaws, is one of the best looking shows you can watch right now and when it kicks off the thrills are absolutely glorious.
The concept of the show kind of perfectly represents the show itself. You go out with a bunch of old friends thinking it's going to be a great time, and in the end, things don't turn out the way you were expecting and everybody just kind of ends up disappointed.
I went into this expecting a laugh out loud comedy with a great cast, and there was some of that, but by the end it became more drama, and nothing really ended in a satisfying way either.
I do think the cast was good, and there are some good funny moments, and well done serious moments, but I think overall the show has a weird balance, and doesn't really pay off in a way that leaves any of the characters or audience satisfied. But then again, that's very similar to the night out with old friends from college the show describes, so maybe it achieved exactly what it wanted to achieve.
On one hand I do kind of hope there's another season, only because there's so much left unresolved in the end, but you're never going to get a resolution that satisfies everybody, so I'm not sure if the show should have one either. It's just a strange show. It definitely kept me interested enough to binge it though, so I'll give it that.
So, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland create this particular animated series, that gets quite famous.
They need a ridicolous amount of time writing new episodes despite a 70 episode deal they got at one point and I am sure they will never be able to deliver upon just by how much time they need for ten episodes. Then Justin has the "idea" of doing his own animated series that's copying Rick and Morty basically, just without Rick and Morty and without multiverse? Timeline is important here, Wikipedia says, the series was shelved but not for how long.
The art style is the exact same, the randomness and over the top stories are the same, several voices are the same, all that this is lacking is good writing. Solar Opposites, funny name considering the not so much "opposites", is airing on another network. In other words going into competition to R&M. Is this a very elaborate prank from DH and/or JR, even though DH isn't mentioned? Or does Justin want to piss of DH? How's this even legal from a business standpoint?
SO does scratch the R&M itch. But it's nowhere near the greatness of R&M. SO doesn't try as hard, though.
There's almost no continuity. The stories of the main characters are so random, as random as any interdimensional cable episode, there's no point in watching. You could watch any episode in any order you wish, without losing or missing anything regarding the main characters. That makes this series incredibly boring for me personally.
The most interesting subplot, with actual continuity so far that needs a certain episode order, is "The Wall". That part is the best part of this whole season 1 and really a good idea with actual fun, consistent characters. If Cherie survives for revenge in S2 it would make me gladly come back. Other than that I don't particularly care for this to get a second season.
If JR wants to do R&M, he should focus on R&M and push Harmon (and all the other writers) to do more, instead of half-assing his own stuff. Other than that I simply fail to understand why this exists other than to leech off of the success of R&M. Creating an instance of "you like R&M? You must like this, too. It's from one of the creators". But no. I do not like this. I don't hate it, but I certainly do not like it. Would this not rely on so many similarities or be a direct and open spin-off I wouldn't mind, though.
Kristen Schaal should have been cast as the voice of Jesse as well. Mary Mack sounds way too much like her and Schaal's voice would fit that character very well.
Season 2 edit:
Season 2, which is more like S1 Pt 2, has improved on a lot of the early issues.
It's still very episodic without consequences but the stories and the chaotic energy of Roiland seem to fit and work a lot better in these 8 episodes. Korvo, the most unlikable of the aliens, tones down his Jerry-ness by not being constantly obnoxious. Glad they do go forward with evolving Pupa and the Wall substory was - again - the best part of these episodes with S02E07 the best episode of this show so far. Absolutely great how that turned out. Going to bump this from a 4 to 5. First 8 episodes are meh at best (excluding anything Wall related, those parts are a 7 at worst and 9 at best), later 8 episodes are okay and overal more entertaining.
I was looking forward to an R-rated Harley Quinn show. Like Deadpool, the rating would allow the character to be fully realized. But, the final product just seems to be a hot mess that appears it was written by a teenager who is just copying what others have done better in the past. The show starts off really laying on the feminist message that men are dumb egocentric idiots, and women are superior. This is beat into the view from the moment the show starts and becomes almost unbearable during the second episode, not until you get past episode three, does it becomes slightly more tolerable. The humor falls flat as most of the jokes are not funny, and the overuse of ultra-violence is unnecessary and feels out of place. Speaking of the violence, except for a few scenes, most of the action involves men getting killed and mutilated for no reason other than for the sake of women empowerment.
The cast does their job, Kelly Cucco brings her energy to the role but nothing new. She doesn’t even bother with an accent like all other Harley Quinn’s in the past have. This makes me feel like I am watching Penny from BBT, in cosplay. The best part of this show is Poison Ivy. Her friendship with Harley and her relationship with a villain called Kiteman shows that the show does have something it can offer other than the caper of the week non-funny violence fest that we have. DC, if you choose to renew this show for season two, please focus more on the inter-group relationships and less on the Ultra-feminist message and do not go for an R-rating just for the rating. Let the show and story justify the R-rating.
